Last updated: October 3, 2026
Wyndham Rewards was the hotel program with the simplest chart in the business: every free night cost 7,500, 15,000 or 30,000 points, and that chart had barely moved since 2019. On September 15, 2026, that ended.
The new chart has four tiers: 5,000, 15,000, 30,000 and 45,000 points. Wyndham led with the good news, a cheaper entry tier. The part they didn’t advertise is that the expensive end got a lot bigger.
Wyndham matters to more people than you’d think, because it’s a transfer partner of Capital One, Citi, Bilt, Wells Fargo and, since this year, Chase. If you hold any of those currencies, here’s how to think about Wyndham now.
What Changed
| Before Sept 15, 2026 | From Sept 15, 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest nights | 7,500 | 5,000 |
| Mid-tier | 15,000 | 15,000 |
| Upper tier | 30,000 (top) | 30,000 |
| New top tier | — | 45,000 |
| Pricing style | Fixed tiers | Still fixed tiers, not dynamic |
Wyndham says the vast majority of hotels stay in the three lower tiers and only a small number move to 45,000. But Wyndham didn’t publish a list of which hotels moved.
An independent analysis by AwardTravelTools, reported by LoyaltyLobby, found the number of hotels at 30,000 points jumped from 707 to 2,851. LoyaltyLobby notes it hasn’t verified those numbers, and neither have we. But if they’re anywhere near right, about 2,100 hotels just got pushed into the top-but-one tier. That’s the real devaluation, and it’s bigger than the new 45,000 tier.
Anyone who booked before September 15 kept their old price.
The Break-Even Math
Wyndham’s fixed chart makes this easy. Divide the cash price by the points to get cents per point, then compare with what your points are worth elsewhere.
| Award tier | Cash price needed for 1.0¢/pt | for 1.5¢/pt | for 2.0¢/pt |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5,000 | $50 | $75 | $100 |
| 15,000 | $150 | $225 | $300 |
| 30,000 | $300 | $450 | $600 |
| 45,000 | $450 | $675 | $900 |
Use the after-tax cash rate, since award nights generally don’t add room taxes.
Why 1 cent is the floor that matters: Capital One miles can cover travel purchases at 1 cent each, and other flexible currencies have similar fallbacks. If a Wyndham night doesn’t beat 1 cent, you’re better off paying cash and erasing it with your points. And honestly, flexible points that can go to airline partners deserve more than 1 cent. I want at least 1.5 cents before I move them anywhere.
Where Wyndham Still Wins
The new 5,000-point tier is a genuinely good deal. A road-trip motel or airport hotel that costs $80 to $120 a night after tax gets you 1.6 to 2.4 cents per point. That’s one of the best low-end hotel redemptions in any program, and it’s cheaper than before. If you do road trips through small towns, Wyndham’s footprint (Days Inn, Super 8, La Quinta, Microtel and more) is hard to beat.
15,000-point nights are still fine when the hotel costs $225 or more. That’s plenty of Wyndham properties in busy cities on weekends, where a $150 Monday-night price turns into $250 on Saturday but the points price stays put. Fixed charts reward you for booking expensive dates. Lean into that.
Where It Doesn’t
30,000-point nights are now mostly a trap. To get 1.5 cents per point, the night needs to cost $450 or more. Very few Wyndham-branded hotels charge that. If thousands of hotels moved from 15,000 to 30,000, a lot of Wyndham redemptions that used to be good just halved in value.
45,000-point nights are almost never worth flexible points. You’d need a $675 hotel night to hit 1.5 cents. Sometimes a resort or all-inclusive price gets there. Usually it doesn’t.
How I’d Use Each Currency With Wyndham
- Capital One miles transfer to Wyndham 1:1. Good for 5,000-point nights. For anything at 30,000 or above, compare it with Capital One’s other partners first. See our Capital One Venture and Venture X breakdowns.
- Citi ThankYou points transfer 1:1 from the Strata Premier. Same rules. Citi’s airline partners are usually the better use; our Citi trifecta guide covers them.
- Bilt Points transfer 1:1. With Bilt’s Hyatt ratio dropping to 4:3 on January 1, 2027 (details), some Bilt members will look at Wyndham as a hotel fallback. It’s fine at 5,000 and 15,000. It is not a Hyatt replacement.
- Chase Ultimate Rewards are the last points I’d send to Wyndham. Chase has World of Hyatt, and Sapphire Reserve still transfers there 1:1.
The rule I use: transfer to Wyndham only for a specific booking, at 5,000 or 15,000 points, when the night beats 1.5 cents. Never park points there.
The Verdict
Wyndham made the cheap end cheaper and the middle much more expensive. The 5,000-point tier is a real improvement for road trippers and budget travelers. But if the independent counts are right, thousands of hotels moved up to 30,000 points, and at that price Wyndham rarely beats just paying cash.
Wyndham is now a precise tool, not a default. Use it for cheap nights and expensive dates at 15,000-point hotels. Skip it for the rest. If you want to see which flexible currency fits your spending best, the MaxPoints optimizer will rank them for you, and current promos are on our transfer bonuses page.
Sources: Live From A Lounge on the new tiers and booking protection; LoyaltyLobby reporting the AwardTravelTools hotel counts, which we haven’t independently verified. Transfer ratios as of October 2026. Check the current ratio and award price before transferring; transfers can’t be reversed.
